clutchcity94

I read in another thread in the Montrose forum that this part of the spur next to the church will be trenched underground. Is there any truth to that? That would essentially connect the Ion area to Montrose.

I don’t know if this has already been discussed, but does the South Baptist Church plan on staying in this location next to the Ion? That baseball field area next to the spur on-ramp seems like a complete waste of space.

1 hour ago, trymahjong said:

TxDot has plans for Spur 527-

 

According to TxDoT spokesperson- 527 is targeted to be placed below ground from Alabama to I59.

That will allow commuters and residents the opportunity to experience NO ACCESS from 527........resulting in better informed opinions I’m sure.

 

BTW

COH/PWE reported that when Bagby was entirely closed while Brazos bridge was dismantled NO. Repeat No complaints were received at all, from anyone concerning changes in access.

This would be incredible! Where did you see this?

Just imagine what the area around The Ion will look like then. You can walk from there towards Montrose Blvd on Wheeler/Richmond without worrying about getting shanked underneath the spur encampments.

Sounds like a dream!

Thoughts on what kind of impact this will have on property values (residential included) in the Montrose area?

The more I think about it, this spot would be perfect for another art studio or museum, similar to the art space directly across Woodrow Street (4411 Montrose).

Or, of course, more townhomes. I just don’t see an office building working in this spot.

20 minutes ago, swtsig said:

 

tech is a broad term but it's the perfect type of tenant for this kind of development. don't think this is a nab from another city as i'm pretty sure they have an existing presence here but i could be wrong. either way it's a great anchor office tenant.

Cmon you can private message me the details...I’m a ClutchFans BBS ‘01’er 

Anyone know what tech company already signed a lease? Did we steal a company away from Austin??

9 hours ago, MidCenturyMoldy said:

Yep, Menil Park was there when I lived there. The Center For Photography was a convenience store. What freaks me out is that there are two fairly good-sized live oaks in front of the apartment building where I lived...that weren't there at all when I lived there. Talk about making a person feel old!

What was where the Menil Collection building is now? Was it just a bigger Menil Park?

Should be a Uniqlo.

2 hours ago, MidCenturyMoldy said:

 

It's hard to have a sense of place when the place you're trying to have a sense of keeps disappearing out from under you. 

 

I first moved into Montrose (the fourplex at West Alabama and Mulberry...it's still there) in January of 1979. The flavor of THAT Montrose is long gone.

 

Houston's not the only place that's changing so rapidly that any sense of place is at risk...Dallas and Austin are like that to some extent. Seattle, too. Toronto is almost a whole new city from the one I lived in as a kid for a couple of years in the early 70s.

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Edited to add: I will say this, azaleas, pine trees, pine needles, live oaks, asiatic jasmine, moss on bricks, broken sidewalks, torrential rain and mildew all scream "HOME" to me. I suppose that's a sense of place.

West Alabama and Mulberry - love that intersection!

Before the Menil in 87ish, what was there? Was Menil Park always there?

Who currently owns this piece of land?

2 hours ago, Ponchorello said:

 

The listing of lower rents is going to take some time as landlords are now so accustomed to the inflation of rent over the last 10 years.  The market is in the process of correcting itself but that could take a couple of years to really set in.  For the last 10 years restaurants have been on a tear in growth but as we are finally witnessing the "cheap" lending and over growth with a changing market is finally starting to show its true colors.  

lending is as cheap as ever now.

3 minutes ago, Ponchorello said:

The rent is simply too high now in the Houston area.  When you're paying $50+ sq ft not including NNN's you better have strong sales and margins to stay open.  Couple that with an over saturation of restaurants makes for a tricky equation.

If demand is low (i.e. lots of empty storefronts all over Montrose), shouldn’t rent decrease?

On 1/28/2020 at 5:18 PM, Luminare said:

 

Maybe. That middle spot has still been vacant since this place finished. It honestly shouldn't be hard to market this place. The Menil is packed pretty much everyday, and there aren't a lot of food offerings in the area. While Buff might bit the dust, Lua is doing amazingly well. Its also really good food. A tad pricey, but again good food. We need a lot more food options on this street and Montrose in general. I work on this street, and the only options are either a slightly pricey hotdog or a slightly pricey fried rice, or HEB, or the Subway at St. Thomas. Its a bit ridiculous. The Menil draws a lot of people to this part of the neighborhood there should be more/better options.

Not to mention the entire empty strip of shuttered restaurants further south on Montrose, just south of Richmond. Why can nothing stay open there?

Any bets on when the McDonalds across the street will shut down?

I was just at Sweetgreen and saw one of the Sweetgreen employees eating McDonald’s during his lunch break on the Sweetgreen patio. That summed up the state of Montrose right there.

1 hour ago, houstontexasjack said:

Getting renovated into a 7-11 right now. Longer term, it’s in the proposed ROW for the freeway expansion and will at least lose its ingress/egress from San Jacinto.

Will this be the first 7-11 in Houston? 

A great spot for retail in the area is the abandoned Museum Florist shop at 5007 Montrose Blvd. I really love the retro look of that brick building. Anyone know when it closed?

1 hour ago, bobruss said:

This will definitely happen and fairly quick. They are planning a new tower at Hermann Lane next to the Parklane. The new Chelsea Market is going to boost residential and put more pressure on to develop more retail and service related businesses. The Midtown side will continue to add more retail and service once some of these large projects get finished.. One thing that I noticed when I was waiting for my car at Montrose Auto across from Bell Park is there is nothing in several blocks to get anything to drink or shop or do anything. That needs to change.

Kam’s? Grand Prize?

30 minutes ago, Luminare said:

 

Interesting idea. I'm guessing if its three blocks then it will be from Dunlavy to Commonwealth?

 

The biggest question is how are they going to do this? Do they now own all the lots on these three blocks? (Doubtful). Are they going to do this one lot at a time?

HCAD is down at the moment, otherwise I'd check.

28 minutes ago, MarathonMan said:

Ugh!  I feel like this is such a missed opportunity to create a truly iconic building.  The final product is turning out to be soooooo mediocre. 😕

how so?

22 minutes ago, crock said:

it suffers from not being in midtown proper or lower westiehmer proper and if you're already getting in a car to go to that part of town you're ending up at Axelrad. 

Will be interesting to see how this pocket of Montrose develops once the tech innovation area next door is complete.

Is this location cursed? Or is something bigger and better moving in?

3 hours ago, Ross said:

From the Clerk's site, it was sold to Joe E Lee in 1968 by Gertrude Levy Finger, then in 1973 to a married couple, then transferred to the current owner after, presumably, a divorce in 1979. There have been a couple of City notices about the condition of the property.

what website did you find that? I just see one name on HCAD’s site.

On a related note, what’s the story with the abandoned house caddy corner from this development at 120 Portland St? It’s in ROUGH shape and has been for a while. I was driving down that street last night and I’m pretty sure squatters live there since I saw one laying out on the stoop.

I believe it used to be a restaurant back in the 70s/80s.

EDIT: Oh wow, I just read this on the Wikipedia page for none other than Joseph Finger:

”On 6 February 1953, a month short of his 66th birthday, Finger died at his home at 120 Portland Street.”